


The Best of Friends

by the_witching_hours



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-11-14 19:22:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11214615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_witching_hours/pseuds/the_witching_hours
Summary: Y/N: your name | Y/L/N: your last name | Y/N/N: your nickname





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Y/N: your name | Y/L/N: your last name | Y/N/N: your nickname

You and Jim flirted as easily as your breathed. It was part of what drew the two of you together, although yours may have been less intentional than Jim’s. 

But regardless, the two of you were thick as thieves before the end of your first year at the academy. You’d been at his side through Nero, helped Leonard bring him back from the dead after Khan, and you’d been the only person he’d told about his application for Vice Admiralty on Yorktown. You hadn’t told him that you didn’t want him to leave the Enterprise. You had encouraged him to do what would make him happy, but you were glad he’d changed his mind. 

Through all of the years that you’d been friends, you hadn’t  _ really _ flirted with him. In the beginning you had returned his flirtatious comments. But as time went on, you ceased all together. This hadn’t bothered Jim much before, but now he was driving himself nuts trying to figure out  _ why _ .

Maybe it was after Krall, maybe it was when your face was the first he’d seen upon coming back to life, hell it could have been from the very first time he met you, but Jim was just now realizing how much you meant to him. 

You were a constant in his life. Well, you and Leonard. But where Bones would be quick to snap at Jim and complain about everything, you poked fun but supported him. Sure, you kept him in check from time to time (he needed it after all), but if something was wrong, Jim knew he could go to you. 

He sought you out everyday. If a day passed in which he didn’t see you, he felt off and even slept poorly. Seeing your face or hearing your voice could lift his spirits from any pit. It had taken him this long, but Jim understood now, _ he loved you _ .

Now that he knew however, he was having a hard time getting you to understand. Obviously, his usual methods wouldn’t work with you since you knew all his tricks. But he didn’t want to just come right out and say anything either. You were his best friend, and as much as he wanted there to be more, he couldn’t stand the thought of  _ less _ . His denial of no-win scenarios was wavering, and if he walked into engineering and saw you flirting with someone again, he’d lose his shit.

So,  _ of course _ , that’s what happened. 

You were the security officer chosen to accompany the away team on the scouting mission of a small planetoid. Scans showed no lifeforms, but security officers attending away missions were protocol. Jim was walking to the transporter with Spock, who was also going on the mission. They entered the room to see you leaning against the console, a smile on your face and your hand on Scotty’s arm. Jim’s vision went as red as your uniform.

“Jim!” you looked up and smiled at him, “How’s our fearless leader today?”

He didn’t respond to you, didn’t even look at you. He just asked Scotty if they were ready to transport. That stung. You blinked several times, pulling your hand away from Scotty’s arm and moving from the console. Confused, you looked to Spock, wondering if he and Jim had a tense conversation on the way over, but Spock seems unfazed. 

“Jim, are you okay?” you asked, brow furrowed.

“Fine,” he responded tersely.

_ “So that’s a ‘no’ then,”  _ you thought. “Can I-” you started, but Jim cut you off.

“Just get on the damn pad, Y/N,” he all but growled at you, he still hadn’t met your eyes.

“Not till I know what crawled up your ass and died,” you replied, crossing your arms over your chest. Sometimes the Captain needed to have his attitude checked, and as his friend, you saw it as your job.

“I’m not having this conversation with you, Lieutenant.”

_ “Oh it’s ‘Lieutenant’ now is it? Well fine then _ .” You narrowed your eyes, “Do forgive me  _ Captain _ ,” you said snidely, emphasizing his title. You turned away and stalked onto the pad, then busied yourself checking your phaser and the knives you’d tucked into your boots and strapped to your forearms. Jim usually teased you about your knives. He didn’t understand why you insisted on carrying them, but then you had never offered to explain.

Your life before the fleet hadn’t been a bed of roses. Jim told you about his childhood spent with his abusive uncle, and you sympathized with him. But while he could, and did open up about his past, you couldn’t. The knives you carried were a remnant of a violent childhood where you’d learned to fight dirty and stay armed at all times. A childhood you didn’t talk about, not even with your best friend. 

Though you didn’t know what was causing a rift to grow between Jim and you, you had been expecting it; and as much as his anger hurt you, you felt like it was overdue. In your life, people hurt you and left. In your mind, this friendship with Jim was a fragile anomaly. An anomaly with an expiration date that you could now feel approaching. 

The transporter hummed as you and the team disappeared from the pad. Jim was about to head for the door when Scotty spoke up.

“What the hell was tha’ about Cap’n?”

“What was what about, Scotty?” Jim sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“What did ya snap at Y/N for?”

“I didn’t sn-”

“Ach, yes ya did. Now yer gonna tell me why.”

“I… it’s just… shit,” he rubbed his hands over his face, “It’s complicated Scotty.”

“Ain’t it always?”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Yer a right fool is what you are!” Scotty proclaimed after listening to Kirk’s story, “She doesn’t flirt with ya cause she trusts ya. Yer closer to her than  _ anyone _ else.”

“ _ Really _ ?” Jim challenged, “Then why won’t she talk to me? I’ve told her all my shit. She knows  _ everything _ about me, but she won’t tell me anything.”

“I donna think she knows she’s supposed to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I donna think she knows how to really interact with people, or let people close to her Jim. She flirts with everyone cause that’s what she knows.”

“She doesn’t flirt with me though.”

“Cause you don’t make her feel like she  _ has _ to. I think… I think you need to ask her about it Jim. Her past I mean.”

Jim sighed again, resting his head in his hands as he sat in the transporter room with Scotty. 

“I  _ love _ her Scotty. I love her, and I don’t know what the fuck to do about it.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Jim had been on the bridge since that conversation. At least there he could  _ pretend _ to be useful. He still didn’t know what to do, but he had a starting direction. 

Jim tried not to fidgeting the chair, but as the minutes ticked into hours with no works from the away team, he found it hard to do. Spock had commed once, but that was almost an hour and a half ago, and Jim was running out of things to do to keep his mind occupied. 

By the time two hours had passed, he'd given up the pretense of calm and was pacing the bridge when the call came through. 

“Spock to Enterprise, we need immediate transport. Alert medical.”

“Enterprise to Spock, transport ready. Alerting medical. Spock, who's hurt?” Uhura replied, patching in Scotty in the transport room and signaling med bay. 

Jim, who had stopped pacing when the call came through, dug his fingers into the back of the captain's chair as they waited for an answer. 

“I was shot in the shoulder and Lieutenant Y/L/N was shot in the chest and leg.”

Jim wasn't aware of entering the turbo lift, hadn't consciously decided to leave the bridge, and didn't come to his senses until he reached the transporter room. There was a ringing in his ears and his legs threatened to collapse as he looked over the dirty and bloodied away team. Bones pushed past him into the room to reach you and Spock, who was supporting your crumpled frame between himself and another science officer. Bones had gauze pressed to your chest and a tricorder hovering over you as he and Spock headed to med bay. 

Jim was left in the transporter room, shocked and stuck in place until Scotty placed a hand on his shoulder. He jerked back to his senses and shook his head lightly before leaving the room with a mumbled “thanks” to Scotty. As much as he wanted to go straight to medical and see you, he knew that he was needed elsewhere. He just had to trust Bones, he could do that; Bones was the best. That thought playing through his mind, he trudged back to the bridge.

-_-_-_-_-_-

As soon as he could be, Jim was in medical by your side.

According to Bones, you had been shot by something resembling a 21st century Earth gun; once in the right thigh, and once in the left pectoral. Neither bullet had punctured anything vital, but the one in your chest hadn’t exited cleanly; it had hit a rib, shattered, and had to be removed surgically. It had broken your rib, and the broken rib had almost punctured your lung, you were lucky.

Spock reported that they had been attacked from behind. The attackers had shot Spock first, and while the others in your party had ducked and moved for cover, you had raised your phaser and returned fire, protecting Spock.You were hit in the leg while pulling Spock to the nearby treeline for cover, and dropped your phaser. When one of the attackers came close to you, you’d thrown one of your knives, sinking it into your pursuers eye, killing them, but not before they’d gotten off the shot to your chest. Spock’s call had been answered just as the rest of the attacking party breached the treeline and your team had been beamed up just in time.

Jim sagged in the chair Bones had given him. He leaned forward to rest his forehead on the bed next to your hand. You had yet to regain consciousness and he felt helpless.

“You just had to go and get shot huh? And not by a regular old phaser, nope, you had to get shot with an antique,” Jim spoke to the floor before looking up at your face.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you Y/N/N. I didn’t mean it… I just…” he raked his hands through his hair, searching for words, “I was just mad that you were so flirty with Scotty. I don’t even know why.” He buried his face in his hands.

“That’s a lie, I know why. I love you Y/N/N. I love you and it kills me to see you flirting with other people, even though I have no right to feel like that. We aren’t together, and I know you flirt all the time, hell I do too, I know that. But… I’ve shared everything with you,” he said, looking back up at your face, “I’ve shared it all and you still treat me the same; no pity, no shame. That matters to me.”

After a minute of just listening to the soft beeps and hums of the med bay, Jim stands. He stretches little and then sits so he’s perched on the side of your bed. He holds your hand in one of his, and moves his other hand to cup your cheek, softly rubbing his thumb over your cheekbone. 

“I never asked you about your life before the fleet; I just assumed you’d talk about it when you were ready. But Y/N, when you wake up, I’m gonna ask. I’m gonna ask and I want- I hope you’ll tell me.” He waited a few beats, almost hoping to see some sign of recognition from you. Receiving none, he leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips and stood to leave. 

At the door he paused, turned his head to look at you over his shoulder, and mumbled something before exiting.

“I love you Y/N. Please wake up soon.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

Humans have always feared the unknown, that’s why they search, experiment, travel. Ultimately, human fear of the unknown was the reason you were in space, as a part of Starfleet, exploring the universe. It was also the reason you and Jim were arguing.

You weren’t sure what had tripped him, but within seconds of entering the transporter room, he’d snapped at you; called you your rank instead of your name, and told you off. You were glad the transporter made it possible to hide the tears forming in your eyes. Not that you hadn’t expected your friendship with Jim to end eventually, but knowing, wouldn’t stop it from hurting.

You’d never really had friends growing up, your family moved around too much for that. Saying it like that made it sound normal; it was an excuse you’d given loads of people, because it was easier for them to swallow than the truth. The truth being that your mother was a narcissist, and your father was a cruel drunk. They successfully masqueraded as a perfectly happy military family, and most people wouldn’t believe that a decorated vet could take a swing at his daughter, or that a mother as kind as yours seemed would deny you food for forgetting to wear the specific dress she wanted. You had one sibling, a younger brother named Isaac, and you’d devoted your childhood to keeping him safe. You would annoy your mother on purpose, so that her attention and rage were focused on you instead of him. You would use your body to shield him from your father’s drunken fists. You didn’t have much to give him, but you gave Isaac everything you had. At almost 9 years older than him, you’d been more of a parent to him than a sibling. He’d called you “mama” for a month before your mother found out; the bruises that lasted for weeks, were worth it.

Isaac grew up, and as he grew, so did your father’s anger. So you’d learned to defend yourself, and your brother. When the fucker raised a hand to your baby brother on his tenth birthday, you put a knife to his throat. You’d hidden those knives, practiced with them until your hands were sore and bleeding, and learned the best ways to use them. That was the first time you’d ever pulled one with the intention of doing harm. With determination in your eyes, you told your parents that if they ever put a hand on him again, it’d be the last thing they ever did.

Less than a year later, your endless hours spent working crappy jobs paid off- you had enough money hidden away from your parents to get a place of your own. You helped Isaac file for emancipation a week after. The process was long, and the hearings emotionally exhausting. And in the end, you’d  _ lost _ . Your parents took Isaac and denied you any form of contact. He was only 16 this year, at least two more years from being able to contact you, assuming he even wanted to anymore. It crushed your heart. Isaac had been the only thing that mattered to you, until now. Without your permission, or even your notice, Jim had made a place for himself in your heart, right beside you little brother.

You had been at Jim’s side for so much, you felt like you had to protect him. He  _ was _ a bit like a big, stumbling puppy; too cute for his own good and constantly getting into trouble, needing to be rescued. That wasn’t what you felt for him now though. Now, you weren’t sure what to do with your feelings for him. Sure, you’ve had “boyfriends” in the past, but you had never been attached to any of them like you were to Jim… it scared you.  Jim had been a constant figure in your life for several years now. He was the longest relationship of any kind that you’d ever had, and as much as you treasured it, you feared it.

That fear paled in comparison to what you’d felt on the planet. There were no indigenous life forms besides plant life, all you were supposed to be doing was accompanying a few science officers so that they could collect some samples for testing. Spock com’ed the bridge once the team arrived, and no further contact was made.

“Pardon me, Lieutenant, but may I ask a personal query?” Spock had asked as he approached from behind you.

“Of course, Commander,” you met his gaze over your shoulder before turning to look at him, “What’s on your mind?”

“You and the Captain seemed… angry with each other before we beamed down to this planet. Is anything the matter?”

You almost laughed out loud at the prospect of Spock giving you relationship advice, but settled with simply saying, “We just haven’t communicated well as of late, Spock. I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.”

“I disagree. The Captain rarely refers to anyone by their rank alone, and he did so with you earlier. This means he is exhibiting a desire to distance himself from you, at least in conversation. He has never behaved this way with you, to my knowledge.”

You sighed, “Yeah, he is mad at me. I am not sure why, but I’m sure it will work out in the end.” Maybe if you said it like that it would be true.

“‘The end’? Do you see your friendship terminating?”

“Probably,” your face fell. It was one thing to think about something, it was another thing entirely to say it out loud.

Spock looked at you, confused, and opened his mouth to speak, but he had no time to say anything as he was shot in the shoulder by a small projectile moving at high velocity.

You shouted for the rest of the away team to take cover; they immediately complied, running for the nearby treeline to the west.

A group of 6 humanoid beings were closing in on your location, brandishing what looked to be extremely old fashioned phasers.

“C’mon Spock,” you bent to help him up, while firing at the attackers. You managed to hit two before you were shot as well; the projectile piercing your leg.

Spock, now supporting you, you continued to fire, taking down another of your pursuers before you entered the trees, your phaser slipping from your fingers as you fumbled into the trunk of a tree. 

“Spock to Enterprise, we need immediate transport. Alert Medical.”

An attacker came from behind Spock as he called the ship. You quickly palmed a knife and threw it hard at the attacker. The blade sunk into his left eye and he dropped, but a burning pain was now spreading through your chest.

You barely registered Uhura’s response, then all you could hear was a high-pitched ringing, and the golden swirl of the transport beam that you could see forming around you slowly turned black.

-_-_-_-_-_-_

Faces swam in and out of the darkness surrounding you. Your father’s face; red and contorted with anger. Your mother’s face; a cold sneer etched on her lips. Isaac’s face when the judge denied his emancipation. And Jim’s face. Jim’s face when he was desperately fighting to breathe after he’d crawled into an active warp core to save the crew. His bloodshot eyes searching for you, a small smile crossing his lips when he found you.

_ “Jim, no…” you sobbed as you fell to your knees beside Spock. He couldn’t die… he couldn’t. There had to be something, anything you could do. Jim couldn’t die… _

_ “Y/N,” his voice barely more than a croak. _

_ “Why Jim?” you whispered, tears flooding your eyes and spilling down your cheeks.  _

_ “Couldn’t let you all die,” he tried to chuckle, but ended up coughing, violently. You pressed your forehead to the thick glass separating you from your best friend as he died in front of you. _

_ When he breathed his last breath, Spock screamed for Khan. You screamed too, but not words, just incoherent screaming. It had felt like your heart had been ripped out of your chest. It was like losing Isaac all over again, but worse; there was no hope of seeing Jim again. You didn’t want to go on anymore. _

-_-_-_-_-_-_

“Her heart rate is way too high, _ ”  _ Bones growled, tapping furiously at his PADD, trying to figure out why, all of a sudden, you were showing a heart rate of 140 bpm. Jim was hovering at his shoulder, wishing he could do something, anything.

Then you started to convulse, and scream.

-_-_-_-_-_-_

You’d had enough of the darkness. You wanted to see Jim. His face flashed in your mind again. This time you saw him just after Spock and Bones had saved him from nearly being sucked into space in the process of saving Yorktown. He’d looked beaten up, but the smile that had been missing from his face for months was back. He looked  _ alive _ . It terrified you. You’d almost lost him again and he was happy.

_ “God damned adrenaline junkie,” you admonished as he ran up to you, “What am I gonna do with you?” _

_ “Keep me I hope,” he said, wrapping you up in a tight hug, pressing his forehead into your shoulder. _

“Keep me…” That’s all you wanted now. You wanted to wake up  _ now _ . You screamed in your head, hoping someone could hear you.

-_-_-_-_-_-_

“”Y/N! Y/N, can you hear me?! You gotta calm down sweetheart, you’re gonna hurt yourself.” Jim called out, trying to get through to you as he and Bones pinned your arms to the bed beneath you, attempting to keep you from hurting yourself.

You stilled, like you were frozen, and a whimper passed your lips. Shocked, Jim’s gaze shot to Bones, who was just about to dose you with a sedative, but hadn’t administered the hypo yet.

“Keep talking to her Jim. Looks like that’s working.” Bones took half a step back and motioned for Jim to continue.

“Y/N, I’m gonna let go of your arms okay?” Another whimper, and Jim felt a tug in his chest at the sound. He moved to the side of your bed and gripped one of your hands.

“I’m not going anywhere, Y/N/N. Don’t worry. I’m still here,” he soothed, his free hand brushing the hair from your face.

Your heart rate lowered as he stayed talking to you until he was hoarse. Spock had the conn for the foreseeable future, and Jim wouldn’t leave your side.

-_-_-_-_-_-_

It was most of the way through gamma shift when you woke with a start. Your eyes opened and darted around medbay, not recognizing anything at first, until they landed on Jim.

“Jim?” you croaked. You reached for him, and he took your hand.

“You’re okay, Y/N/N. You’re okay,” he soothed, his voice low and soft as you tried to hold in the sobs that tried to break free from your chest.

-_-_-_-_-_-_

3 days later you were cleared to return to your quarters, but not fit for duty. So when Jim didn’t find you in medical or your room, he started to panic. He passed by the observation decks in his search, and almost missed you. You were curled up against a large window in an empty observation room; blankets wrapped around you and a PADD in your hands. Jim smiled fondly as he leaned against the doorframe, watching you for a minute before knocking on the frame.

“You’re not here to drag me back to my room, are you?” you asked with a half smile on your face.

“Not if you share your blankets.” You smiled in response and lifted up a blanket in invitation.

As Jim sat, he could see the picture on the screen of the PADD you were holding. Curious he asked, “Who’s the kid?”

You drew a deep breath before saying, “This is my little brother, Isaac. I know I’ve never talked about my family Jim.” You continued, speaking fast, afraid that if you stopped, you may never get it all out, “I guess I was… I don’t know. Embarrassed? I don’t even really know where to start.”

“Start at the beginning,” he prompted softly, turning to face you fully.

You closed your eyes, took a deep breath, and did exactly that.

-_-_-_-_-_-_

“I haven’t seen Isaac since then.” Your arms were wrapped around your bent knees, your chin resting on top. Jim continued to stare at the pictures on your PADD, processing what you’d told him.

Neither of you spoke for a long time, until you couldn’t take the silence anymore. 

“I’m not good at this Jim, but I wanna try. I haven’t been a good friend to you, let alone a best friend, but I want to be.”

“Just friends?” The question threw you off. He hadn’t spoken for a while, and that wasn’t the response you’d expected. But you were talking, telling him everything, so you’d tell him.

“No,” you said quietly, looking anywhere but his face.

“‘No’ meaning what Y/N/N?” He scooted closer to you, setting the PADD down on the other side of him, looking at you and waiting for your answer.

“I don’t want to be ‘ _ just friends _ ’. Not even  _ best _ friends. I want...” your eyes squeezed shut, “I love you, Jim…”

It was so quiet he almost didn’t hear you. But he  _ did, _ and it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard. Carefully, he brought his hands up to frame your face, tilting it so he could see your eyes which opened at his actions. He had a soft smile on his face, and it was spreading.

“I love you too Y/N.”


	3. Chapter 3

“So… I have a surprise for you,” Jim smiled as the two of you disembarked from the ship. It was nice to have semi-solid ground under your feet again, even if Yorktown was a man-made planet.

“You know how I feel about surprises, Jim,” you groaned, closing your eyes and rolling your head back on your shoulders in a dramatic fashion. He grabbed your hand and continued to pull you through the berthing area towards the exit, making your way onto the street outside.

“I know, but I really think you’ll make an exception for this one.” 

Not that he’d put you out of your misery though. Nope, he told you that you wouldn’t get your surprise until after you’d showered and slept for a while. Of course both of those activities were extended since Jim insisted on participating in them with you.

He still hadn’t told you anything as you dressed for dinner. He was taking you off the main base, so you were both wearing civilian clothes ( [ Jim ](https://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=225530845) /  [ Y/N ](https://www.polyvore.com/best_friends_reader/set?id=225530411) ); they felt strange and almost uncomfortable after wearing only your uniform for so long.

“Jim, seriously. This is gonna give me an ulcer.”

“If you haven’t developed one after 4 years on the Enterprise with me, 5 more minutes won’t give you one. But I can call Bones when we’re done if that’ll make you feel better.” He shot you a cocky grin over his shoulder and laughed when you pouted.

He took you into a restaurant that was designed to look like an old earth diner; vinyl booths, white tables with metal trim, and a sound system made to look like an ancient jukebox. Jim sat on the side of the booth facing the door, gaining another glare from you, but he swore there was a good reason. You both ordered your drinks and you were about to nag him again when you were stopped by a voice behind you.

“Y/N/N?”

“I-Isaac?” you stuttered. Eyes widening, you looked to Jim. Jim was watching you with a growing smile on his face as you turned and saw your baby brother, tears falling from your eyes as you stood quickly, and wrapped your arms around Isaac tightly.

He looked so different, and yet, the same. He had lost his baby fat and grown at least two feet since you’d last seen him, but his eyes were the same, his smile was the same, and although his voice was deeper, your name sounded the same leaving his mouth.

“How… what… why are you here? How’d you get here?” You couldn’t form sentences as you pulled back from the hug enough that you could see his face; keeping a hold of his arms. You still weren’t sure he was real. Could you dream while you were still conscious?

“The captain over there,” Isaac tilted his head, indicating Jim who was still sitting in the booth, “he called and arranged a, what did you call it?” he looked over at Jim then.

“An educational opportunity,” Jim answered, a small smirk on his face.

“An educational opportunity, for my class. He really only offered it to me, but he made it look like it was for the whole class so mom would let me go.”

You kept yourself from jumping into Jim’s arms, but only barely.

And the surprise didn’t stop there; Bones, Chekov, Sulu, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty appeared about an hour later. Jim smiled as he told you that he wanted you to be able to introduce your families to one another. More tears ensued. Isaac and Pavel got along like a house afire; they were similar in age, and although Isaac wasn’t  _ quite _ as advanced as Pavel in mathematics, he shocked everyone with his knowledge in medicine. Leonard McCoy was smiling and talking to Isaac frequently through the night.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know you had a brother?” Uhura smiled and nudged you with her elbow as she sat next to you. You were sitting in the booth, watching as your brother talked to Spock, you couldn’t hear their conversation, but Isaac seemed very invested.

“I didn’t mean to hide him, I just…”

“Don’t worry, Y/N, I understand. I’m just glad I got to meet him.” You smiled and hugged her awkwardly as Spock came back to the booth; Isaac now talking to Jim and Scotty.

“Your brother is quite knowledgeable, Y/N.”

“Thanks, Spock. I had no idea he was into medicine. I haven’t seen him in  _ years _ actually.”

“That is understandable, I have heard a bit about your childhood from Isaac. He says you were the reason he was able to grow as much as he did.”

Uhura shared a soft look with you as Spock pulled her away. You stayed sitting where you were, closing your eyes and fighting tears for what felt like the millionth time that night.

“You know Captain Kirk said that he would help me apply for advance admission to the academy?” Isaac’s voice came from in front of you; when you opened your eyes, he was sitting across from you. You looked at him, a smile on your face, before looking to Jim who was now talking with Sulu and Chekov.

“You interested?” you asked. The two of you had caught up a bit, and it sounded like, although your parents hadn’t improved much, Isaac was managing pretty well. As much as you would love for your brother to escape, and as much as you loved Starfleet, you didn’t want him to feel like he  _ had to _ take Jim’s offer.

“Are you kidding?” Isaac laughed, “I’ve got a well known, hero of a captain willing to recommend me  _ and _ I get to be closer to my badass hero of a sister?! Hell yeah I’m interested!”

You could feel a blush rising on your face and your cheeks were sore from smiling, “Jim is that. I dunno that I’m as good as you say, but I would be ecstatic if you went to the academy. I’m already proud of you though, Isaac. You don’t have to do this just for me.”

Isaac looked at you for a moment, brow furrowed, before reaching across the table to grab your hands with his.

“Y/N, you are that good. You were a hero to me even before you joined Starfleet. You protected me, kept me safe, and let me become what I am. It’s only because of you that I could do  _ anything _ that I have done. And I worked harder knowing that it would get me closer to you. I’ve missed you so much, Y/N, and if this will get me closer to you, I’m gonna do it. If I get awesome school and career opportunities too, that’s just a bonus.”

…

Hours later, after finally falling into bed, you curled into Jim; resting your head on his chest and wrapping your arms around his waist.

“So did you like your surprise?”

“I don’t know if I will ever be able to tell you how much,” you said raising your head so you could look into his eyes, “James Kirk, you are quite possibly the most wonderful, caring, thoughtful person I have ever met, and I love you, so much.” Tears slipped down your cheeks, but as Jim reached a hand up to brush them away, you caught his hand and pressed a kiss to his palm.

“Thank you, Jim, for everything.”

“Anything, Y/N. I will do anything for you. Always” he said softly, moving his other hand to wipe away your tears and pull you in for a deep kiss.

“Now, about how you’ll repay me…” he said, smiling against your lips.

_ “Aaaand, moment over,”  _ you snorted and laughed, trying to pull away from him, but he wrapped his arms around you, and held you firmly to his chest.

“Nope, you’re not getting away from me, Y/N/N. You’re stuck here, with me, forever.”

You sighed dramatically, falling limply on his chest, “I can’t imagine a worse scenario. How will I ever survive?” You pressed a kiss to his pectoral just before reaching around and tickling him relentlessly.

“AH! God I take it back! NO! Leave me alone demon woman!”

“Nope! You’re stuck with me, Jimmy,” you crowed, wrapping your arms around his waist again and resting your chin on his chest so you could look into his smiling face.

“And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”


End file.
